this question not according to the tradition of his club, nor according
to his own idiosyncrasies. He should regard the general principle of not
depriving a man of anything to which he is accustomed and which agrees
with him. Of course, it is advisable to do without such articles of food
as would be injurious to the majority of the men, even though there
might be one or two to whom they would do no harm. Men should enjoy
their food, and it should be properly served. I remember once being
asked my opinion regarding a certain team at the time in training, and I
expressed the conviction that something was wrong with their diet. The
team, as a whole, were not seriously affected, but some three or four
were manifestly out of sorts. I heard the coach go over the bill of
fare, and it sounded all right. I then decided to take dinner with them
and see if I could discover the trouble. One meal was sufficient, for it
was a meal! The beef--and an excellent roast it was, too--was literally
served in junks, such as one might throw to a dog. The dishes were
dirty, so was the cloth. Vegetables were dumped on to the plates in a
mess, and each one grabbed for what he wanted. Some of the men might
have been brought up to eat at such a table, still others were not
sufficiently sensitive to have their appetites greatly impaired by
anything, but the three or four who were "off" were boys whose home life
had accustomed them to a different way of dining, and their natures
revolted. So, too, did their appetites. As it was then too late to
correct the manners of the mess, I simply advised sending these men
elsewhere to board, and they speedily came into shape. I cannot too
strongly advocate good service at a training table. The men should enjoy
their dinners, should eat them slowly, and should be encouraged to be as
long about it as they will. As food is to repair the waste, it should be
generous in quantity and taken when the man will not, from being
over-tired, have lost his appetite. Sometimes a team is not overworked,
but worked too late in the day, so that the men rush to the table almost
directly from the field, and fail to feel hungry, while within an hour
they would have eaten with a zest. This course persevered in for several
days will show its folly in a general falling-off in the strength as
well as the weight of the men. To train a football team should be, in
the matter of the diet at least, the simplest matter compared with
training for other sports, because the season of the year is so
favorable to good condition.
Crews and ball nines have oftentimes the trial of exceptionally hot and
exhausting weather to face, while a football team, after the few warm
days of September are passed, enjoy the very best of bracing
weather--weather which will give almost any man who spends his time in
out-door work a healthy, hearty appetite. In order that any captain or
coach reading this book may feel that, while it offers several courses
of diet, it would emphatically present the fact that there is no
hard-and-fast system of diet that must be religiously followed, I submit
a variety of tables, showing some old as well as new school diets. None
of them are very bad, several are excellent; and I don't think that a
captain or coach would be called upon to draw his pencil through very
many of the items enumerated.
[Illustration: JEREMIAH S. BLACK.
Princeton.]
THE OXFORD SYSTEM.--(Summer Races.)
A DAY'S TRAINING.[A]
Rise about 7 A.M. | |So as to be in chapel; but
| | early rising not compulsory.
Exercise | A short walk or run |Not compulsory (walk only, and
| | short).
Breakfast, 8.30 |Meat, beef or mutton. |
|Bread or toast, dry |The crust only recommended.
|Tea |As little as possible
| |recommended.
Exercise (forenoon)| None |American football men should
| | kick, catch, and pass.
Dinner, 2 P.M. |Meat; much the same as |
| for breakfast. |
|Bread | Crust only recommended.
|Vegetables, none allowed | A rule, however, not always
| | adhered to.
|Beer, one pint |This is what Americans call
| |ale, and not indulged in to
| |any great extent except after
| |a hard game.
Exercise |About 5 o'clock start |
| for the river, and row |
| twice over the course, |
| the speed increasing |
| with the strength |
| of the crew. |
Supper, 8.30 or 9. |Meat, cold. |
|Bread; perhaps a jelly |
| or watercresses. |
|Beer, one pint (see above).|
Bed about 10.
[Footnote A: As has been stated elsewhere, improvements have been made
in diet since this table was compiled. This will also apply to the
Cambridge System, page 143.]
TORPID RACES.
A DAY'S TRAINING.
Rise about 7.30 A.M. | |Early rising not compulsory.
Exercise. |A short walk or run. | Not compulsory.
Breakfast, 9. |As for summer races. |
Exercise (forenoon). | None. |
Luncheon about 1 P.M.|Bread, or a sandwich. |
|Beer, half a pint. |
Exercise. |About 2 o'clock start |
| for the river, and row |
| twice over the course. |
Dinner, 5. |Meat, as for summer races.|
|Bread. |
|Vegetables, as for summer |
| races. |
|Pudding (rice), or jelly. |
|Beer, half a pint. |
Bed, 10.30.
THE CAMBRIDGE SYSTEM. Summer Races (1866).
A DAY'S TRAINING.
Rise at 7 A.M.
Exercise. |Run 100 or 200 yards as |"The old system of running a
| fast as possible. | mile or so before breakfast is
| | fast going out, except
| | in the case of men who
| | want to get a good deal of
| | flesh off."
Breakfast, 8.30. |Meat, beef or mutton.
|Toast, dry.
|Tea, two cups, or towards the end of training a
|cup and a half only. Watercresses occasionally.
Exercise (forenoon).| None.
Dinner about 2 P.M. |Meat, beef or mutton. |
|Bread. |
|Vegetables--potatoes, |Some colleges have baked apples,
|greens |or jellies, or rice puddings.
|Beer, one pint. |
|Dessert--oranges, or |
| biscuits, or figs; |
| wine, two glasses. |
Exercise. |About 5.30 start for the river, | "Most men get out for a
| and row to the starting-post | little time before
| and back | rowing back."
|Meat, cold.
Supper about 8.30 |Bread.
or 9. |Vegetables--lettuce or watercresses.
Bed at 10. |Beer, one pint.
H. CLASPER'S SYSTEM.
A DAY'S TRAINING.
Rise between 6 and 7 A.M.
Exercise. A country walk of four or five miles.
|Meat, chop or
Breakfast, 8. |Couple of eggs.
|Bread.
|Tea. ("We never drink coffee.")
Exercise. |Rest for half an hour, and then a brisk walk
| or run. If morning exercise has not been heavy,
| a row on the river, terminating about 11 A.M.
Dinner, 12 M. |Meat, beef or mutton (broiled).
|Egg pudding, with currants in it if desired, or other light
| farinaceous pudding.
|Ale, one glass.
|Wine, one glass (port), or
|Ale, two glasses, without wine.
Exercise. |Rest for an hour, and then on the river again for a hard row.
| "Rowing exercise should be taken twice every day."
Tea. |"Tea, with toasted bread sparingly buttered, with one egg
| only--more has a tendency to choke the system."
Supper. |Not recommended. When taken, to consist of new milk and
| bread, or gruel, with raisins and currants and a glass
| of port wine in it.
Bed about 10.
C. WESTHALL'S SYSTEM. For Amateurs.
A DAY'S TRAINING.
Rise at 6 A.M., | Cold bath and rub down.
or earlier in the summer. |
Exercise. | Sharp walk about a mile out, and run home; or a
| row of a couple of miles at three-parts speed.
| A dry rub-down.
Breakfast (time not stated). | Meat, mutton-chop or steak (broiled).
| Bread, stale or toast.
| Tea, half a pint.
Exercise. | (Not stated.)
Dinner, 2 P.M. | Meat (as at breakfast).
| Vegetables, none; "except a mealy potato."
| Bread, stale.
| Beer, one pint.
Exercise (afternoon). | Rowing.
If dinner be late, luncheon to be taken to consist of
Meat, beef or mutton, hot or cold. Bread. Beer, one glass.
(If dinner be early, "tea with viands and liquids as at breakfast" to be
taken.)
Supper. | Half a pint of thin gruel, or dry toast
| and a glass of ale.
Bed. | Time not stated.
N.B.--It is added "that the above rules are of course open to alteration
according to circumstances, and the diet varied successfully by the
introduction of fowls, either roast or boiled--the latter preferred;"
and "it must never be lost sight of that sharp work, regularity, and
cleanliness are the chief if not the only rules to be followed to
produce thorough good condition."
McLAREN'S SYSTEM.
A DAY'S TRAINING.
Rise at about 7 A.M. (Glass of cold water recommended.)
Exercise. | The crew meet at 7, walk and run for four or five
| miles; or, in later practice, quick run of two
| miles.
| Wash and dress.
Breakfast, 9. | Meat (broiled); bread (brown) and butter; tea, two
| cups. "Cocoa made of the nibs boiled for four hours
| is better than tea for breakfast."
| Smoking allowed (conditionally). "Smoking is barred,
| for, though here also a man's habits are to be
| taken into account, the subjects
| of training in match-boats are usually too young to
| have contracted a custom of smoking so inveterate
| as to have made tobacco indispensable
| to the body's internal functions, though it is not
| unfrequently so in older men. After breakfast is
| the only time allotted to the pipe."
Luncheon at 1. | Beef sandwich with half a pint of beer, or
| Biscuit and glass of sherry, or egg in sherry.
Exercise. | At 2.30 go out to row, and row over the whole
| course. "This altogether
| depends on the state of the crew."
| Wash in tepid water.
Dinner at 6 p.m. | Meat (roast, broiled, or boiled). "Any kind of
| wholesome meat thoroughly cooked."
| Vegetables--"The green foods permissible contain in
| their list spinach--the very best of all; sea-kale,
| asparagus, but without melted butter; turnip-tops,
| young unhearted greens, but not solid cabbages;
| broccoli, carrots, parsnips, and cooked celery.
| Turnips are also favored, and pease condemned; also
| cucumbers, and all salad mixtures. But boiled
| beet-root is good, and Jerusalem artichokes;
| and French beans stand next to spinach in virtue."
| The course is varied daily, so that no two days
| together shall see the same articles on the table.
| Pudding. ("Light puddings may be eaten.")
| Bread. Beer, one pint.
| Wine, two glasses of old port or sherry, or three of
| claret. Biscuits and dried fruits, as cherries,
| figs, etc., allowed. ("All fresh fruits are
| avoided.")
| Jellies. ("Plain jellies are innocuous.")
| Water. ("As much spring water as they have a mind
| to.")
Supper, 9. Oatmeal gruel if desired.
Bed at 10. N. B.--On Sundays a brisk walk of three hours or so
is taken.
SUMMARY.
Sleep, eight or nine hours. Exercise, about three hours. Diet, very
varied.
STONEHENGE'S SYSTEM.
A DAY'S TRAINING.
Rise at 8 A.M. | According to season and weather.
| Cold bath.
Exercise, 8.30 to 9. | Walking or running. "Let all take a gentle run
| or smart walk."
Breakfast, 9 to 9.30. | Oatmeal porridge, with meat (beef or mutton,
| broiled) and bread.
| Tea or coffee, or table beer, one pint.
| "Tea is preferred to coffee.
| Cocoa is too greasy."
Exercise, 9.30 to 11.30, | Billiards, skittles, quoits, or
| other light exercise.
11.30 to 1.30. | Rowing.
1.30 to about 2.30. | Running. "According to circumstances."
| Rubbed dry and linen changed.
Dinner, 2.30 to 3 or 3.30| Meat--beef (roast) or mutton (boiled mutton
| occasionally), roast fowl, partridges, or pheasants
| (allowed), or venison (nothing better).
| "It is generally directed that the steak or chop
| should be underdone; this, I am sure, is a fallacy."
|--Bread (_ad lib_.).--Puddings occasionally,
| made of bread, eggs, and milk, and served with
| preserved fruits.--Vegetables--potatoes (one or two
| only), cauliflowers, and broccoli (only as an
| occasional change). If training is protracted,
| fish allowed (cod or soles).--Beer, from a pint to
| a pint and a half.--Wine, a glass or two, port or
| sherry.
After dinner,
until 5 or 6. |A gentle stroll or book.
Exercise, 6 to 7. |Rowing.
Supper, 8. |Oatmeal porridge with dry toast or chop,
| with glass of port.
Bed at 9 or 10.
SYSTEM OF JACKSON AND GODBOLD.
BREAKFAST.--Stale or whole-meal bread, or toast, a little butter, plenty
of marmalade if you like, but not jam. Bacon and eggs, or chops or
steaks, with watercress if obtainable. To those who like it, a basin of
oatmeal porridge, _properly made_, taken with pure milk about an hour
before breakfast, is an excellent thing, and has a very beneficial
effect upon the stomach, but it should not be taken every day. It is
better to miss it every third day, or to take it regularly for a
fortnight and then omit it from the next week's diet, as the too
frequent use of it is rather injurious to the skin of some persons.
Tea--not too strong--is better than coffee. Good ripe fruit is a
capital adjunct to the breakfast-table, and is an excellent article of
food.
DINNER.--Lamb, mutton, beef, fowl (tender and boiled), varied by fish,
of which haddock, whiting, and soles are the best, with potatoes (well
boiled, and not much of them), and well-cooked vegetables, followed by a
small allowance of light farinaceous pudding or stewed fruit, will be a
good, wholesome diet. If you want bread, have it stale. Never eat _new_
bread. Avoid all sauces, or made dishes, and adhere to plain food only.
One thing we would particularly impress upon the reader, and that is
never to take his exercise immediately before or after meals, nothing is
more injurious, or likely to produce indigestion, and its concomitant
evils. Some authorities abjure the use of sugar, but taken in moderation
it is not injurious. A well-known champion of our acquaintance, when
in the pink of condition, was wont to amuse himself by eating the
contents of a sugar basin, if one were inadvertently left near him, and
without feeling any ill effects from so doing. Our readers need not
follow his example, for although it might suit him, it probably would
not agree with them. We have said, take sugar in _moderation_. Now, in
this last word lies all the lectures one can give on this subject. Be
moderate in all things, one might say, but above all things be moderate
in the use of all edibles not actually necessary to support the
increased exertion which a man in training is called upon to perform. No
liquid should be taken except with, or just after meals, but we would
not advise stinting the quantity too much. In summer three or four
pints, and in winter two or three pints per diem would be about the
quantity. Never drink just before exercise, and it is better not to
drink just before going to bed. In fact, the less one has to digest when
retiring for sleep the better, and be sure not to drink tea late at
night.
[Illustration: C. O. GILL.
Yale.]
TEA, or SUPPER, should be taken at least two hours before bedtime, and
we would allow a small chop, or some light fish, bread, and very little
butter, with some ripe fruit. The best meal to take before a race, and
which should be taken about two hours before starting-time, is the lean
of mutton-chops and a little dry toast. We have said that no liquids
should be taken except at meal-times; but we do not intend to state that
if a man be very thirsty he may not touch them. If he does so, it must
be a very small quantity. Thirst can often be assuaged by rinsing the
mouth out with cold water, and this is by far the better plan if it is
efficacious.
A COMMON-SENSE SYSTEM.
One author says: "Rise at six; bathe; take about two ounces (a small
cup) of coffee with milk: this is really a stimulating soup. Then light
exercise, chiefly devoted to lungs; a little rest; the breakfast of
meat, bread, or oatmeal, vegetables, with no coffee; an hour's rest.
Then the heaviest exercise of the day. This is contrary to rule; but I
believe the heaviest exercise should be taken before the heaviest meal;
a rest before dinner. This meal, if breakfast be taken at seven or
eight, should be at one or two, not leaving a longer interval than five
hours between the meals. At dinner, again meat, vegetables, bread,
perhaps a half-pint of malt liquor, no sweets. Then a longer rest;
exercise till five. Supper light--bread, milk, perhaps with an egg. Half
an hour later a cup of tea, and bed at nine."
J. B. O'REILLY.
Seven o'clock is a good time for an athlete in training to rise. He
ought to get a good dry-rubbing, and then sponge his body with cold
water, or have a shower-bath, with a thorough rubbing afterwards. He
will then go out to exercise before breakfast, not to run hard, as is
commonly taught, but to walk briskly for an hour, while exercising his
lungs in deep-breathing. Before this walk, an egg in a cup of tea, or
something of the kind, should be taken.
The breakfast need not always consist of a broiled mutton-chop or
cutlet; a broiled steak, broiled chicken, or broiled fish, or some of
each, may be taken with tea or coffee.
Dinner may be far more varied than is usually allowed by the trainer's
"system." Any kind of butcher's meat, plainly cooked, with a variety of
fresh vegetables, may be taken, with ordinary light puddings, stewed
fruit, but no pastry. A good time for dinner is one o'clock.
An American athlete, when thirsty, ought to have only one drink--water.
The climate and the custom in England favor the drinking of beer or
claret; but, beyond question, the best drink for a man in training is
pure water. After dinner, rest, but no dozing or _siesta_. This sort of
rest only spoils digestion, and makes men feel slack and "limp."
Supper, at six o'clock, should not be a second dinner; but neither
should it consist of "slops" or gruel. The athlete ought to be in bed by
ten o'clock, in a room with open window, and a draught through the room,
if possible, though not across the bed.
[Illustration: E. C. PEACE.
Princeton.]
The American football captain or coach should bear in mind, when reading
these various systems, that the use of ale and port seems to be much
better borne by those who live in the English climate than upon this
side of the water.
Also, that stiff exercise before breakfast has not been proven
advantageous to our athletes except as a flesh-reducer, and then only in
exceptionally vigorous constitutions.
Also, that tea is not as popular with us as with the men who train in
England.
SLEEP AND CLEANLINESS.
To come to the third agent of health enumerated some pages back, Sleep.
As a rule, it is not a difficult matter to see that members of a
football team take the requisite amount of sleep. There are occasions,
as in college, when some society event of unusual importance tempts the
men to sit up late, but with such exceptions as these there is no great
difficulty experienced in making the majority of the men keep good
hours. And this is growing more and more simple as athletics become more
general, for they take the place of much of the dissipation which was
formerly the only outlet for the superabundant animal spirits of young
men. In the case, however, of the occasional candidate for the team who
comes under the captain's eye as inclined to late hours, there must be
the strictest kind of discipline shown. Such a man is the very one whose
stamina will be affected after a while by lack of sleep, and that too at
a time when the rest of the men are nearing the perfection of condition.
Thus he will be found falling off at the very time when it is a most
serious matter very likely to fill his position with a new man. Eight or
nine hours sleep should be insisted upon, and that sleep should be taken
with regularity. In fact, not only the sleep, but the meals and the
exercise, should all be made as nearly regular, regarding hours, as
possible. Men should have separate rooms, and particularly when off upon
trips they should not sleep together. Plenty of fresh air should be
admitted to the sleeping-room, but draughts are to be avoided. This is
not because every time the air blows upon a man he is liable to contract
a severe cold, for the chances are against this, but because there are
times when he is particularly prone to such an accident, and if he is in
the habit of sleeping without regard to draughts it is not likely that
he will take precautions then. If a man has, for instance, played an
especially stiff game and upon a muggy and exhausting day, he will
undoubtedly turn in thoroughly tired out, and perhaps still somewhat
heated. Now if he, when in that state, sleeps in a draught, he will
probably find himself very lame in the morning, even though he escape
other more serious consequences. Just one more word of caution regarding
sleep, and that is in the matter of obtaining a good night's rest just
before the important match of the season. To insure this is to do much
towards securing the best work of which the men are capable from the
team upon the following day.
[Illustration: W. HEFFELFINGER.
Yale.]
First and foremost, they should not be allowed to talk about the game or
the signals or anything connected with football during that evening. If
possible, they should do something to entirely divert their minds from
all thought of the game. Nor should they be hustled off to bed an hour
or two earlier than usual. Rather ought it to be a half-hour later, for
then the chances are that the men drop off to sleep immediately instead
of tossing about, thinking of the exciting event of the morrow.
Finally, as to overtrained men, and that restlessness and inability to
sleep that almost always comes with the worst cases of this kind. There
is but one thing to do with a man when he "goes fine" to this extent,
and that is to sever his connection with the team for a time. If it is
early in the season, there is some chance of his recuperating rapidly
enough to still become serviceable. If it is late, there is no hope of
this. In either case he must neither play, eat, nor spend his time with
the members of the team. He can do almost anything else; he can go and
watch the crew row or the ball nine play; he can study or read; he can,
and in fact should, do everything possible to disassociate himself from
football and violent exercise for a time, and, unless the trouble has
gone too far, it will only be a couple of weeks before he will find
himself coming out of it all right, and among the first signs will be
good, refreshing sleep.
To pass now to the fourth of our agents for health, Cleanliness. It is
fortunately seldom necessary to argue the advantages of the "tub" or
"sponge bath" to our football players, because they are usually
accustomed to it. A daily splashing has been their ordinary habit. It is
well to mention also that a fortnightly warm bath may be indulged in to
advantage. But with the present understanding of all these advantages,
the wisest remarks that can be made are cautions as to indiscretions in
the use of baths. In the first place, one bath a day is enough, and any
other should be a mere sponging and rubbing. Men who indulge in a tub in
the morning and then spend another fifteen minutes in a plunge after
practice in the afternoon get too much of it. Again, the habit of
spending a long time under the shower every day is a mistake. It feels
so refreshing after a hard practice that a man is tempted to stay too
long, and it does him no good. The best and safest plan is to take a
light, quick sponge bath in the morning immediately upon rising, and
then, after practice in the afternoon, to take just a moment under the
shower, and follow it by a good rubbing. This, with the fortnightly warm
bath, will be all that a man may do to advantage.
A CHAPTER FOR SPECTATORS
To those who have never played the game of football, but who chance to
open the covers of this book, a short explanation of the divisions and
duties of the players will not be out of place. For these this chapter
is added.
The game is played by two teams, of eleven men each, upon a field 330
feet long and 160 feet wide, at either end of which are goal-posts with
a cross-bar.
The ball, which is like a large leather egg, is placed in the centre of
this field, and each team endeavors to drive it in the direction of the
opponents' goal-line, where any scoring must be done. Goals and
touch-downs are the only points which count, and these can be made only
as follows:
A goal can be obtained by kicking the ball in any way except a punt (a
certain kind of kick where the ball is dropped by a player and kicked
before touching the ground) over the cross-bar of the opponents' goal. A
touch-down is obtained by touching the ball to the ground behind the
line of the goal. So, in either case, the ball must cross the end of the
field in some way to make any score. The sole object, then, of all the
struggles which take place in the field is to advance the ball to a
position such that scoring is possible. A firm grasp of this idea
usually simplifies matters very much for the casual spectator.
The object of the white lines which cross the field at every five yards
is merely to assist the referee in determining how far the ball moves at
a time; for there is a rule which states that a team must advance the
ball five yards in three attempts or retreat with it twenty. If they do
not succeed in doing this, the other side take possession of the ball,
and in their turn try to advance it.
[Illustration: R. M. APPLETON.
Harvard.]
There are certain rules which govern the methods of making these
advances, any infringement of which constitutes what is called _a foul_,
and entails a penalty upon the side making it.
Any player can run with the ball or kick it if, when he receives it, he
is "on side"--that is, between the ball and his own goal-line. He may
not take the ball if he is "off-side"--that is, between the ball and his
opponents' goal-line--until an adversary has touched the ball.
Whenever a player running with the ball is held, he must cry "down," and
a man of his side then places the ball on the ground and snaps it back.
This puts it in play, and is called a scrimmage, and this scrimmage is
the most commonly recurring feature of the game.
For the purposes of advancing the ball or repelling the attack of the
opponents it has proved advisable for a captain to divide his eleven men
into two general divisions: the forwards and backs. The forwards, of
whom there are seven, are usually called rushers, and they make
practically a straight line across the field when the ball is put in
play on a "down." Next behind them is the quarter-back, who does the
passing of the ball to one or another of the players, while just behind
him are the two half-backs and the back, usually in something of a
triangle in arrangement, with the last named nearest the goal which his
team is defending.
The following definitions will also aid the spectator in understanding
many of the expressions used by the devotees of the sport:
A _drop-kick_ is made by letting the ball fall from the hands, and
kicking it at the very instant it rises.
A _place-kick_ is made by kicking the ball after it has been placed
on the ground.